Five years, nearly to the day, after opening their own iconic East Bay establishments, James Syhabout and Adam Lamoreaux are set to launch their joint project in West Oakland. Scheduled to debut Tuesday (June 3), pending final inspections, The Dock at Linden Street fuses the culinary chops of the chef-owner of the Michelin-starred Commis with the beer knowledge of the founder of Linden Street Brewery.

“We literally opened within about a week of each other in 2009 before there was all this activity in Oakland, so we’ve always kind of had a connection,” says Lamoreaux.

They first got to know each other a few years ago when Syhabout contracted with Linden Street to make a custom beer, Supafly Rice Lager, for his second restaurant Hawker Fare. And when Syhabout first visited the brewery, located in a historic 1890-era former loading dock west of Jack London Square, the idea was hatched.

“I was looking to get a restaurant into the building and I think he was sort of half joking when he said he’d be interested, but I just jumped at it,” Lamoreaux recalls. “I called the landlord right away and was like, ‘I’ve got the guy for this project!’ There are only maybe three people in this town that I would want to do this, and James was at the top of the list.”

Interior of The Dock at Linden.

For his part, Syhabout said he fell in love right away with the sunny, industrial-but-serene location with views over the Port of Oakland.

“I just liked the vibe here,” he says. “It’s like there are no frontiers. It feels so free.”

While it is a collaborative project, both partners emphasized that they are letting the other focus on what they know best. Syhabout is entirely in charge of the restaurant side of things, while Lamoreaux says he’s just supplying the beer and the space.

“I keep saying it’s like Gladys Knight and the Pips,” Lamareaux says. “And in this case, I’m one of the Pips, just hanging in the background trying to blend in.”

The project is divided into two sections: The Beer Shed, a smaller tasting room that will maintain Linden’s casual beer-drinking vibe and hours (4:30 to close Mon.–Fri., and 11:30 a.m. to close on the weekends). There will be 10 guest beers on tap, in addition to Linden Street offerings by the bottle, plus two cask beers made specifically for the restaurant.

Next door, The Dock will be open for dinner only, Tuesday through Saturday. It’ll be full service, but still maintain a mellow East Bay vibe: No reservations will be taken, and dishes (all under $20) are classified as small plates meant to be shared to facilitate a more communal dining experience.

Side patio with views towards the Port of Oakland at The Dock at Linden.

As for the food itself, Syhabout says he drew his inspiration from the Port.

“I was just thinking about the Port and all the diversity that it brings; there are shipping containers coming in from Asia, from all over the world,” he says. “So I wanted the food to reflect that international influence.”

He also wanted to emphasize the connection to Linden Street Brewery.

“So it’s all food that you find in other countries that tastes good with beer,” he said. “With a twist, of course.”

Add Syhabout’s high-end culinary experience, and you get elevated comfort food dishes such as yakitori corn on the cob with nori butter, togarashi, and sea salt, and jerk chicken wings with a rhum and pineapple vinegar gastrique. Other likely additions to the 20 or so–item menu include an open-face tempura soft shell crab sandwich with sorrel tarter sauce; curry chicken with lime pickle and roti; onion rings with pumpernickel crust, dill, and caviar dip; and a falafel waffle with Merguez crepinette, lebni, and parsley salad.

The Dock’s executive chef will be Raiden Brenner, the opening sous chef at Box & Bells. But Syhabout has had a major hand in developing the menu; something he says has been a refreshing exercise thanks to the open-ended nature of the concept.

“I’d almost compare it to hip hop freestyle in the way the food came together,” he says. “It’s also been interesting, because I’ve never cooked a lot of these dishes so we had to really do some research to understand the anthropology behind them.”

Syhabout is particularly excited about the dessert portion of the menu. The Dock will offer rotating pies—look for strawberry-hibiscus with homemade vanilla bean “Kool Whip”—plus eclectic creations such as the West Oakland Tan, swirled butterscotch pudding with malt ball and graham cracker brownies, and the 2am Breakfast, mixing vanilla, candied pistachios, lemon curd, blueberries, and corn flake cookies. There is also a full bar, which will include a daily special punch and, appropriately, a “shot and a beer” section. (Scroll to the bottom to check out a sample of the cocktail menu.)

In the end, both Syhabout and Lamoreaux say they hope to create a destination dining spot that will help expand the city’s dining borders well beyond the Uptown.

“I’d love for this to be a place that people recommend to their friends when they’re coming in from out of town,” says Lamoreaux. “We’re both sort of Oakland success stories, and we’re looking at this as something that continues to raise the bar for the city’s dining scene. We’ll see if it works out that way.”